Clyde Sukeforth
| Clyde Sukeforth | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Catcher | |||
|
Born: November 30, 1901 Washington, Maine |
|||
|
Died: September 3, 2000 (aged 98) Waldoboro, Maine |
|||
|
|||
| MLB debut | |||
| May 23, 1926, for the Cincinnati Reds | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| June 7, 1945, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .264 | ||
| Home runs | 2 | ||
| Runs batted in | 96 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
|
|||
Clyde Leroy Sukeforth (November 30, 1901 – September 3, 2000), nicknamed "Sukey", was a Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher, coach, scout and manager. He was best known for signing the first black MLB player in the modern era, Jackie Robinson, after Robinson was scouted by Tom Greenwade in the Negro leagues.
Sukeforth was born in Washington, Maine. After two years at Georgetown University, followed by a year in the New England League with the Nashua Millionaires and the Manchester Blue Sox, he was signed by the Cincinnati Reds as a catcher in 1926. His best year was 1929 when he batted .354. Two years later he lost partial sight of his right eye from being hit by a shotgun pellet while bird hunting on November 16.
He continued to play, but not as well, and in 1932 was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sukeforth, who batted left-handed and threw right-handed, appeared in 486 games over all or parts of ten big-league seasons (1926–34 and 1945), compiling a batting average of .264 with 326 hits, two home runs and 96 runs batted in.
Sukeforth managed in the Brooklyn farm system from 1937–42 with the Clinton Owls of the Class B Three-I League, the Elmira Pioneers of the Class A Eastern League and the Montreal Royals of the top-level International League before his promotion to the Dodger coaching staff in 1943. He also was activated by Brooklyn at age 43 for 18 games during the first three months of the 1945 season, the last year of the World War II manpower shortage, despite not having played competitively since 1939, when he was a player-manager at Elmira. Sukeforth started 13 games as Brooklyn's catcher, and collected 15 hits, although only one was for extra bases, a double struck against Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves on April 24. He batted .288 in 55 at-bats.
...
Wikipedia